4.25

*I received this book from BloggingForBooks for review. This does not affect my review.*

I have seen this book around and jumped at the chance to read it. Going in, the only thing I know was that it was about a game that was immersive and that by playing called for you to leave your body and the real world behind. I loved the parts of the story that was in the game. Fun and unpredictable, they were well written and made reading the book fly by. The real world parts were a bit slower but still thrilling. I enjoyed the intrigue and struggles of the real world added in. It was a bit more political than I normally read, but the overall story was written in a way that kept me reading.

Book One

Nightmares is something everyone has had. Whether you are young or old, you once had a nightmare that you just couldn't shake off. Sometimes it's just the one nightmare, sometimes it's a trilogy. Sometimes, however, it stays with you for days, weeks, even months. You are either falling into a dark abyss; a clown is chasing you; failing a test that is coming up. But the main thing to remember is that these are just nightmares.....they only occur during the night, during sleep. Once you wake up, those nightmares are gone.

 

Or so Charlie Laird believed so.

 

Charlie believed like everyone else, that nightmares aren't real, and that they only occur during sleep time. That is until he started having the same dream over and over again ever since moving into the purple mansion which he believes have caused the nightmares to escalate.

 

Of course everyone assures him that the nightmares aren't real.

 

That is until a nightmare started walking around town....in broad daylight!!!!

 

Charlie and his friends found something very unusual in the Purple Mansion.....a gateway into the Netherworld....a gateway into Nightmares. Every nightmare Charlie's town has ever had or has now, Charlie and his friends are walking in them. Trying to figure out how a Nightmare got through the gateway and into Reality while also trying to figure out how to get out of the nightmares that seem to have plagued the town.

How can you get out of your nightmare when your nightmare won't let go of you? How do you win in a Nightmare?

 

Jason Segel shows you how with the help of Charlie and his friends. A wonderful, helpful story for kids and yes even adults who have terrible Nightmare that they just can't shake off.

 

Book Two

 

"Go to sleep my baby rock-a-by
Mama's gonna sing you a lullaby
All about the angels that watch over thee
Go to sleep sweetie and dream in peace."

This is normally how most people get their kids to sleep. They sing a little lullaby, they rock the baby's in their arms, they read a story....whatever it takes to get their children to sleep.

 

That is until the children and the adults start seeing eyes in their dreams that have turned into nightmares?

 

And what if all those great techniques, don't work anymore? How are you going to get your child to sleep when even you yourself can't sleep? And what if you do start sleeping and those eyes.......

 

Well then try out this new tonic from the next town over. You will feel wonderful trust us!!! You will be able to never dream of those eyes ever again!!!! (Of course, you will NEVER dream again and you will turn into a Zombie which is sort of the point)

 

Charlie and his friends are at it again, trying to save a town from Nightmares....but this time the nightmare isn't from the Gateway. It's mixed in a Tonic that the people have been drinking and can't seem to come out of their Zombie phase.

 

How do you wake people up when they are too afraid of the Reality? How do you stop something when you can't feel it?

 

Book Three

STAY TUNED FOR REVIEW ON BOOK THREE

I'm beginning to think I need rehab, but for books.  I keep telling myself that I won't buy any more, but then I find something that I 'really need' or that my girls 'really need' and before I blink I'm through the checkout and out the door with the books in hand...

 

Today was again one of those days, this time I've managed to pass of today's haul off as being super prepared for Christmas, but that still doesn't solve my lack of book shelf space... nor find homes for the stacks of books currently taking over my coffee table. So Santa, if you're watching, I'd love some book cases this year, even if I have been a little wicked as far as my books are concerned.

 

(ETA side note: the 78 Storey Treehouse is the paperback version by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton, not the audiobook version that Booklikes linked here... I'll change that when I get a chance)

This was a neat little audiobook. I know Jason Segel as an actor, but he's a pretty good writer as well. It was a nice bonus that he narrated the story. I only gave it three stars because it wasn't ground-breaking for me. I thought it was a cute idea, and I liked the message about conquering your deepest fears, and dealing with grief. I felt bad for Charlie's step-mother, whom he treated really awfully, because of the fact that she wasn't his mother and his dad and brother seemed to be moving on and he wasn't. I actually thought stepmom Charlotte was pretty interesting. I would have liked more interactions between her and Charlie, especially more positive when he dealt with his issues towards her. Ultimately, this never got to the point that I didn't want to turn it off when I had something else to do.

The nightmare world was a bit creepy. The descriptions and the characterizations of the the nightmare realm were on point. I think for a young reader, it might be genuinely scary. Some of the nightmare characters were actually the real draw of this book, like Meduso and his mother (you know who). And who would have thought a clown would be a good guy (yes I do have a bit of coulrophobia).

I think this is one you definitely want to get the audiobook for. I think it's the best way to experience this book.